Lamp-bulb installing and removing device



July 31, .1923. 1,463,466 H. D. GRINNELL LAMP BULB INSTALLING AND REMOVING DEVICE Filed May 22. 1922 Patented July 31, 1923.

: UNITED s HAROLD D. GRINNELL, or PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS,-ASS1GNQR '10 ma e. 0. A. or PITTSFIELD, MAssAcHqs 'r'rs; A'CORPORATION MANUFACTURING COMPANY,

or MASSACHUSETTS.

I 1,463,466 r ATE NTQOFF 1C LAMP-BULB INSTALLING AND REMOVING DEVICE.

Application filed .ivza aa 1922; Serial No. 562,684.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HAROLD D. GBIKNELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident .of 1Pittsfield, in the county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement'in Lamp-Bulb Installing and Removing Devices, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is-a speclfication, like characters on the draw ngs representin like parts.

his inventlon relates to apparatus for installing and removing incandescent lamp bulbs, and aims to provide novel and improved means for manually performing these operations quickly and safely, and particularly in respect to lamps suspended from cords, 'or

other non-rigid -supports and mounted j in elevated position f beyond. the graspof the operator. a Myinvention will best-be understood. from i'a,-;desc ription--ofj a specific useful embodi- 'ment thereof, jillustrated fin. the accompanyingjdrawings, :wherein Figirl is a front elevation of the device shown inoperative relation. to an incanlustrating the lamp socket-engaging means. inoperative p,os ition ,-th e lamp shade shown in Fig; -1-havingbeen removed and the clampingarms ffor gripping the same being h wn i -t e old p itio v Fig.3, a detail cross-sectional view on the line 3 a of Fig; '2;

lamp bulb; f-

Fig. 41, a detail perspective bottom view of the outenorextension portion of the lamp socket supporting attachment; and

- .Fig. 5,;a detail verticalf section of the clutch illustrated in; operative relation ma Referring tothe accompanying drawings,

it willqbe observed the'pr'e'sent" device comprises alamp bulb engaging-portion, alamp shade'engag ingportion, and allamp socket engaging portion all mounted upon a com- 'monsupport' or rod, each of said-portions being separate-and arranged for coopera- ,tive relationship with one or both ofthe-r'e- -m ainingiportionjs. This rod-L'is-of indefinite variable length and adapted to enable' the operator to convenientlymanipulate an ,ob-

ject when placed beyond his grasp. The

rod may be formed-in any manner suitable 3-. I

to the purpose, and is preferably composed of a series ofsections detachablyconne'cted so that by adding or removing a suitable number their aggregatelength maybe readily accommodated to'the required -reachgfor operation. j

,As herein shown, the rod comprises permanent upper and lowertubularsections 10,

11, jointedly connected'jas at l2'inany suit-. able manner, the upper end of the rod being.

fitted with a fixed head13 seated within the tubing and having an exposedportion extending beyond the rod, while the opposite end. of the rod carries a handle la -having a reduced portion; 15 extending slidably 1 into its interior .a distancehpreferably at least equalto the limits ofmov'ements of the handle, as hereinafter described.

' The head 13 isfprovidedwith"a central bore to receive a slldin'g-spindle l-fi-formedy it in sections which arejointedly connected at convenient points and correspond inlength to the rod sections through which they egg.- tend sothatthey may be detached therewith,

in the upperend of the reduced portion15 Of ho handle. V

The, spindle 16. is' exteiidedf through and beyond the head. 13 and; carthe. lowermostspindle section being seated ries at its upper extremity a detachable socket member 17 adapted-tosupport are;

movable clutch 18 for; greceivingwa lamp bulb 19.

The socket member has depending stem 20 provided centrally with a. suitable v.

bore or recess to receivethe upperextremity of the spindle '16., beingnremovablysecured infiXedposit-ion, as by a'set-screw 21. In theupper end of the socket member 17 is a' circular'well 22 having inclined side wallscorrespondingwith-the. formation of a stem 23. provided:'- on theyclutch 18 and adapted to seat; firmly therein th object of this construction being t0 -removably: seat the clutch rigidly in the socketmeinbcrfi with sufiicient firmness to preyent relative movement therein. when p the: clutch is. subjected to rotative action admin-isteredby the operator when inserting or removing the lamp bulb. Y

The clutch 18 is a hollow receptacle-havng' the formation of an inverted irustum,

' the large end being open torece'ive a lamp bulb and the lower end bein closedby a perforate bottom 2% suitably secured thereto 1 and depending centrally. from which is the stern 23'above referred'to. The side walls of the clutch are preferably constructed of flexible material, such as paper, rubber or upon a bracket 28 carried on the lamp socket :29 into which the bulb 19 is screwed, said shade forming a dependent skirt freely surrounding the bulb.

the present embodiment the arms 26,

-' 26, are eonstructed' of metal tuloing, each 'being provided' at its lower end with a bifurcated portion 30 arranged to straddle the head 13 and secured thereto in the man- ;ner abo e indicated; Slidably mounted in the outer end oat each of the clamping arms is an adjustiablearm extension member 31 carryingin turn at ltSOUtGI' extremity a fixed clamp-for seating and gripping the lamp shade-'27, These clamps are of open struc-j tare-and preferably constructed of sheet 7 metal suitably formed and shaped to provide a lower transverse portion'or rest bar '33 arranged to extend under and engaging the lower rnn'of the lamp shade, and a separate upper transverse portion or bearing bar 34 outwardly ofi'set from the lower portion'and curved'lengthwise to conform to the normally rounded contour of the lamp shade against which i it bears at a point above the r-im, -saidrest and bearing bars being rigidly held in spaced relation bycon- 6 necting struts 35 at each end and preferably provided with a protective covering '36 of tape or other suitable material. the space intervening said rest and bearing bars being adapted to receive afsegment of the shade llm.' i

The clamping arm extension members 31,

' 31, are adjustable to any desir'ed'elevation fand preferablysecured n given Position by means of a threaded stud 37 laterally carried by each ofsaid members and arranged to slide in as'uitable slot;(not shown) provided lengthwise "in the wall of each clamping; armfthe outer end of each stud [being fitted with a nut- 38. -v

' V The clamping arms 26, 26,:are pivot-ally secured to'the spindle 16 by braces 39, 39,

each of which is attached at its outer end preferably to eye members 40 struck up centrally from the clamping arms, and at its outer end to can apertured yoke 41 .slidably j'mounted in horizontal position on the spindle 16 aboic the "rod .10, and provided terminally with suitable eyes for attachment to the braces 39. .r

26, 26, are normally? The clamping arms held in the closed position by a coil expansion spring 51 mounted on thespindle 16 above the rod 10, said spring bearing at its lower end-against the hear-1'13 and at its I upper end against a sliding collar 43, which is preferably interposed between the spring and the yoke and adapted tooperatoas a spacing member to spread the braces39, 3-9

to insure their proper angular relation in the closed position.

; Pivotally secured at its inner end "to the rod 10,: and preferably immediately below' the point of attachment of the clamping arms, is an auxiliary supporting arm-42 in" eluding a jointed extension portion 48, the arm 42 beingadju-stably secured to a wingcollar 82 detachably held in I position 'by bolts 45, 45, carryingsuit-ab le thumb-nuts.

This portion of my device isdesigned to cooperate with the clutch portion for re movingt'he lamp bulb and may be used independently of or in combination with the clamping arms 26, 26; that is to'say in every instance where the lamp-bulb is suspended from a cord or other non-rigid supportand no lamp shade is carriedon the socket 295m which the clamping a r-ms may be applied to provide the necessary support, and also" inf those instances where a lamp shade is employed but either it or the "shade sup-porting bracket-28 is found to be loose or too "infirm to afford the requisite degree of strength and rigidity-then the auxiliary arm be employed to advantage; To this enda-nd for adaptation I to a lamp socket with or without a lamp shade thesaid;supporting arm is constructed-of separate pivot-ally 'connected" portions 12, 43 adapted to xa'ssumeangular relation with respect to-each other when y the open position and of suitibient'length to admit lamp shades of'd iiferents'izes and formation, the outer extremity ofthe outer .or 1

extension portion1 l3 b-eiing'provided with a hollow receptacle 4A of lfrusto-conical armati-on adapted to enclose the lamp socket 29', a seetoralportion'of the receptacle beto receive the cord lfi'and the switch key 47 of't he socket. "The inner and outer-portions 1 i2, 13 ofthesupporting arm are preferably connected by a transverse bolt {18car-rying a suitablejwingnut for fixingithe relati-ve'po- 7 sit-ions of these parts, the correct-angular adjustment ofthe outer portion in't he open posit'ionfbeing determined preferably by an abutting shoulder 49' carried on the floater i 20" "ing removed'to providea. suitable space 50 extremity-ofthe inner arm '42. WVhen'not inuse, the supporting arm is adapted to assum'e the closed position illustrated in Fig. 1 wherein the parts 42, 43 are folded together invertical position adjaoentthe rod 10.

the character indicated in combination with lamp shade, the operator grasps the rod firmly in an upright position in one hand and'pulls down upon-the handle 14 with the other hand, this action bringing the clutch socket-member 17 into engagement causing the clamping arms-26 tospread an appropriate distance to receive the lamp then discontinued and the clamps are forced intogripping and supporting engagement with theshade, responsive to the action of the spring 51, as illustrated in'Fig. 1. Preliminary adjustment of the clamping arm extension portions 31, 31 in themanner before indicated may be necessary to give the clamping arms the required reach andto permit sufficient space between the lamp socket and the lower limit of movement of the clutch 18 for play of the latter in installing or removing the lamp bulb. The spindle 16 being now free to be raised without disturbing the position of the clamping arms, the clutch 18 is forced upward over the outer or enlarged end of the bulb and at the same time sufficient downward pull is exerted by the operator upon the clamping arms to hold the lamp shade and therewith the lamp bulb in stationary position. WVhen the bulb is well seated in the clutch the spindle 16 is then rotated to unscrew the ing, it will be understood that any one of a series of clutches having like-sized stem portions but well portions of different cathe necessary rigidity to the lamp socket during the operations above referred to, 'or in case the shade, when employed, is insufiiciently rigid for supporting purposes, I then bring into requisition the auxiliary attachment consisting of the supporting arms 42, 43. These arms are then positioned as shown in Fig. 3, the receptacle 44 being placed over and enclosing the lamp socket 29, for which purpose the marginal opening 50 is made of sufficiently ample proportions to freely admit thelamp cord 46and key 47 The slight downward pressure exerted ship on said support. shade."Downward pull on the handle 14 is upon the rod 10 abovereferred to being also effective to Prevent pward displacement of mp socket andbulb; r

- It will be'apparent that my invention is not restricted to the particular embodiment u'W hen my device is applied to'a lamp of.v

herein shown: and that-obvious modifications m the structure, combination and arrangement of'itslparts-'may be made without 'de-..

parting from the-objects ofthe'invention.

-' Iclaim as my invention:

21.111 a device of thecla'ss described, in

combination, a support, means'ffor holding a lamp bulb, means for holding; the lamp socket, all mounted in ooperative relation- 2. In a'-'device of'the class I described, in combination with asupport, separate cooperative gripping mechanisms carried'by the '-support, ;-one of :said -mechanismsb'eing "shade.- and meansffor holding the lamp. I

adapted to grip the lamp bulb and the other of said mechanisms being adjustable on its mounting and adapted to grip the lamp socket. v

3. In a device of the class described, in combination, 'a support, means for gripping a lamp bulb, andmeans for securing said support to a plurality of objects independently of the lamp bulb.

'4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a support and gripping means carried by the sup-port for engaging and disengaging a lampbulb, of cooperative means for securing thelamp socket in stameans having an adjustable angle in its length. 7

tionary position, said cooperative securing i hold the lampsocket in relatively stationary position during operations on the lamp bulb..

6. In a device of the class described, in

combination, a support, a turning member mounted to slide within the support and extending beyond one end of the support,

means carried on said extended portion of" the turning member for gripping a lamp bulb, and a collapsible arm pivoted at one end to the support and carrying at'its opposite end means effective tosecure the lam socket in stationary position. A

7. In a device of the class described, in combination with a support and means car .ried by the support for engaging and disen- V gaging a lamp bulb, of an adjustable arm pivoted at one end to-said support and carrying means at its opposite end for engaging the lamp socket, and means for, fixing .the position of the arm relatively to the sup port.

8. In a device of theclass described, in

combination, a support, means carried by the I support for engaging and disengaging a lamp ;b ulb,';an arm pivoted at one end to said support and carrying at its opposite end a receiving member for gripping the lamp socket, said arm having a plurality of movably-connected sections adapted toform an angle in its length.

u s device of the class described, in

combination with a support and, means carried by the support for engaging and disengaging a lamp bulb, of an arm pivoted at one end to said support, andcarrying at its opposite endw means for securing the lamp socket instationa-r-y position, said arm being :formed of jointedly connected sections adapted to be opened and closed, and means for rontro lling the angular relationship of said .a-rm sections in the open position.

10. In a device of the class described, in combination, a support, a thrust member flmou-nted' to ,slide Within said support and extending-beyondoneendof. the support,

the support, as'liding member carried on 7 said extended portion of the thrust member,

braces vpivotally connecting the clamping arms with said sliding member, spacing means ,for limitin'g the inward movement of the braces,- and means for actuating the clamping arms into the closed positionfor gripping an object independent ofthe lamp .1 bulb. v- In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

U HAROLD D. GRINNEL Y 

